MA in the Media.

[Laughing Cow]

Do you think that MA is correctly represented in the media (TV, Movies, Cartoons).

Personally I am saddened at the current over-use of MA in the media.

Looks like you cannot watch any movie or TV-series anymore that doesn't feature some MA moves in it.
ergo, Buffy the Vampire Layer, Dark Angel, Matrix, Charlie's Angels, etc.

Cartoons are even worse.

Look at "Samurai Jack" (pet-hate) what's the story to it, what does it say about the Samurai and their way of life and conduct.

Personally, I think we as serious MA should be very concerned about this trend and somehow should make an effort to get MA presented more authentic and accurate.

As the current trend gives People the wrong idea of MA and only promotes more shisters to milk the MA cow for their own end.

I know the old 70's HK Movies were more the equivalent of our Fantasy (knights & dragons)movies than trying to portray MA accurate.

I rather let my son watch "Push Hands" than the latest Jet Li flick.

Flame on.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Buffy the Vapire Layer

:confused: :D

And as for the topic, how realistic was Hong Kong Phooey back in the 70's?

It's a trend that'll pass.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent


And as for the topic, how realistic was Hong Kong Phooey back in the 70's?

It's a trend that'll pass.

The HK Phooey movies were addressed in my Post.

Yes, the trend might pass. But what about the perceptions it created about MA in general.

Look at what the Ninja Movies did for Nin-Jitsu, totally mis-represented them and their History.
Some styles even stopped using the terms "Nin-Po" & "Nin-Jitsu" to distance themselves from the popular image.

[Serpent]

HK Phooey movies!? WTF?

No, no, dude, I'm talking about this! (http://www.dfcom.freeserve.co.uk/hbw/hongkong/)

;)

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent
HK Phooey movies!? WTF?

No, no, dude, I'm talking about this! (http://www.dfcom.freeserve.co.uk/hbw/hongkong/)

;)

Link not working for me.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow


Link not working for me.

Works fine for me.

Cut & paste this:

http://www.dfcom.freeserve.co.uk/hbw/hongkong/

[Ryu]

Unfortunately, the argument of "it's just entertainment!" keeps most from realistically addressing the influence media has in popular ideas, etc. of society. It's hazy at best.

Many martial arts movies push a very negative "anti-hero" agenda in a lot of ways, and seem to promote the idea of the "tough guy" who doesn't take ****, treats women like garbage, and has no "martial virtue" whatsoever. This saddens me and angers me a great deal.

Fortunately, at least people like Jackie Chan (even though I don't care for his movies :) ) still try to make a positive statement about themselves.
There are plenty of good portrayals of MA virtue in media, things like Walker, etc. Bulletproof Monk might prove to be good too, but I can't tell as of yet.

The main thing is this, too many people don't want to hear that "media entertainment" can be 'wrong.' depending on what its motivations are.

It's not something that writing on a forum will change, so if you want to make a change, do something about it.
Speak out publically, write, try to get things published.
I'm trying to do it, and I'll continue trying for as long I live probably. If you have a passion for portraying accuracy and virtue along with good old fashioned entertainment, by all means try to make some changes where they count.

Since I'm not in the mood to debate this with anyone, I'll slip out of sight now and continue with my writing and training. ;)

Ryu

[Laughing Cow]

Can't find server from over here. might be a DNS problem.

[SevenStar]

yeah, they coulda kept HK Phooey. The 80's could've kept karate cat, too.

As for samurai jack, the story behind it is that aku destroyed his home, killed his father and sent jack into the future, so that jack couldn't kill him. Jack is hunting down aku so that he can avenge his home and his father. Nothing wrong with that.

As for MA in other cartoons, on a general level, I'm cool with it. I LOVE anime, and it abounds in that. You also see it in some other things now, like Kim Possible. Nothing wrong with that either. We know it's fake, so it's all good. Just entertainment. Except anime, which can be a way of life, for the serious otaku.

MA in movies, however, is saddening.

[Ryu]

Hey Sevenstar,
I watched a couple episodes of Kim Possible, and I really enjoyed it haha. Really seems to promote good friendship, non-class distinction (the cheerleader best friends with the school "freak"), and a strong woman image that doesn't stray from femininity and compassion, etc. Plus being just darn funny! :D

See how much I read into these things, everyone? Sucks to be me. ;)

Ryu

[yenhoi]

Personally, I think we as serious MA should be very concerned about this trend and somehow should make an effort to get MA presented more authentic and accurate.

Why? What does how "MA" are represented in the Media have to do with your kung-fu?


:confused:

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by yenhoi
Why? What does how "MA" are represented in the Media have to do with your kung-fu?
:confused:

It has to do with how I and the art I practice is being received by other people.

And it will also affect the type and level of MA that most people will expect to learn when they come to train alongside us.

Media so far has given meny things and many groups a bad name due to how they were portrayed in movies and similar.

(edit)
Example: Bikers often get turned away from Hotels because of the image that they received in movies as drunkards, ruffians and dope-fiends.

[AndyM]

Personally, I'm not so much concerned with MA cartoons, Chicks with kicks or fly by wire movies.

Where the Media concerns me is in it's seeming inability or resistance to presenting a well researched presentation of 'real' MA.

We still get the 'Kung Fu man ate my dog' type of stuff in the tabloids too, and that does my nut in!

[SevenStar]

it's a pretty cool show. Did you catch the episode with the monkey kung fu master?

And yes, you to read into EVERYTHING

[Xebsball]

I like an anti-hero here and there.
If you have all "good" charactors all the time it gets boring, specially some of the kids stuff, ment to teach kids how to "do the right thing".

You know, it ****es me off if my tv is trying to tell me how to behave "correctly", not just because i know whats "good" and whats "bad" for me (my personality is already well developed) and the society -> this i know cos i got ****ed off at "educational cartoons" and "educational toys" and whatever ever since i was a little kid, it always ****ed me off. Just as i thought back then, if i wanted a moral lesson id go to church, or school (though one really really learns lots of nasty stuff from the other kids in there).
So the first time i seen some anime, i seen the "good" guys die, i loved it, mortality and all, cos everything else i seen before was so predictable.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by SevenStar
yeah, they coulda kept HK Phooey. The 80's could've kept karate cat, too.


The never met it to my end of the globe.



As for samurai jack, the story behind it is that aku destroyed his home, killed his father and sent jack into the future, so that jack couldn't kill him. Jack is hunting down aku so that he can avenge his home and his father. Nothing wrong with that.


And what has that story-line got to do with MA or Samurai??
At most it is a c-rated story-line souped up with some MA imagery to sell it.




We know it's fake, so it's all good.
Just entertainment. Except anime, which can be a way of life, for the serious otaku.


We know it isn't real, how about little Johnny down the road.

Germany banned throwing stars after Kids watched a show took some metal stars to school and played Ninja injuring a few kids.

Because of things like this we get more and more legal restrictions heaped on the MA scene.

It is a slippery slope, but like Ryu I am trying to help the changes along.

[Serpent]

When it comes down to it, it's entertainment.

Do you think the army suffered cos of Sgt Bilko?

If you really think that people's perceptions are that swayed by the media then that's sad. I wouldn't want those kind of fukwits in my class anyway.

Even if someone comes along thinking that learning kung fu will make them into some dude from Dragonball Z, they soon find out different. Then they stay or go. Otherwise all they ever do is watch tv and stay misinformed on their couch. How does that affect us or MA's in general?

[Serpent]

If Ryu was a D'n'D character he'd be a Lawful Good Elven Paladin.

Daisy-eatin' freak!

;)

[CrippledAvenger]

Originally posted by Ryu
Many martial arts movies push a very negative "anti-hero" agenda in a lot of ways, and seem to promote the idea of the "tough guy" who doesn't take ****, treats women like garbage, and has no "martial virtue" whatsoever. This saddens me and angers me a great deal.


And how many of those had women employed on the content creation front? Not many. Writing (be it script or otherwise) is pretty much still a male-dominated field. You start getting more women in there, and I can almost guarantee you'll see a more balanced approach with regards to relations between the sexes.

The other problem that's not really being mentioned is that there's a whole body of male anti-heros to draw on. Hell, that's been a selling point of western literature since "Beowulf". Because our literary history is so saturated with the male anti-hero, it's a convient staple to fall back on when you need to create something quickly and to have it sell well.

jesus. I think my inner-english major is showing.

[Serpent]

Fear not. Electra is coming.

And what about Xena?

[Serpent]

And Buffy.

And that chick in that show with all the manimal and stuff?

[CrippledAvenger]

heaven help us the day sarah gellar writes a script... :D

Xena, dude. I don't know how to counteract that, except by mentioning Heracules.

[Serpent]

Yeah, but Hercules sucked while Xena is a great show packed with hot chicks wearing not much and they're all kicking butt!

Possibly the best show ever to hit a tv screen.

[CrippledAvenger]

point taken. hot chicks trump kevin sorbo any day.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by CrippledAvenger
point taken. hot chicks trump kevin sorbo any day.

I'm so glad you see that! ;)

[yenhoi]

Silly-talk. MA cartoons on TV have nothing to do with your kung-fu. I dont care what anyone else knows about samurai, or MA in general - if you are truely interested you will go find that **** out yourself, other cartoons depict walking talking turtles, we should probably zap that because walking talking turtles dont exist! We wouldent want children thinking there are walking talking turtles out there! Mise well fix all the fiction while your at it - doesnt display life accuratly or authentic enough.

Who cares what people expect before they get to you, you cant change that no matter what media you start meddling in. When they do get to you, they either want it or they dont, and that has little to do with initial expectations.

Untill silly MA cartoons start making my training less effective for some reason...


:eek:

[Xebsball]

i just remembered i got into MA cos of Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X), that was good stuff, specially the OVA, oh man the OVA was good ****e

[Laughing Cow]

So yenhoi.

You are saying you are cool with a cartoon misrepresenting WC & JKD by using some stupid little story-line and the main charactes being 2 animals that act completely out of characters for those styles.

Naturally one of those Animals has to make cat-calls and imitate Bruce Lee every 5 seconds.

Interesting.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
So yenhoi.

You are saying you are cool with a cartoon misrepresenting WC & JKD by using some stupid little story-line and the main charactes being 2 animals that act completely out of characters for those styles.

Naturally one of those Animals has to make cat-calls and imitate Bruce Lee every 5 seconds.

Interesting.

It has no bearing on people actually studying WC.

There are still good Ninpo schools out there, despite what you said earlier.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent


It has no bearing on people actually studying WC.

There are still good Ninpo schools out there, despite what you said earlier.

Can you name a few.

Last I checked the 3 major groups have distanced themselves from that terminology.
ergo: Jinenkan, Bujinkan & Genbukan.

Japan even renamed a show to:
"Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles".

[Serpent]

I don't mean the name exists. I mean that there are still good schools teaching good ninjutsu skills despite the Ninja fad of the 80's.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent
I don't mean the name exists. I mean that there are still good schools teaching good ninjutsu skills despite the Ninja fad of the 80's.

Yes, there are still good schools teaching those skills.

It still stands that they changed names due to bad representation in the media.

Like another Posters said look at the newpapers any black clad person involved in a crime is not immediately called a "Ninja" or similar.

And with that the public's perception is changed little by little.

Look at some of the damage that Hollywood did. I.e. the straight sword, etc.
Look at how BL is misrepresented often in the media.

So far it happens mostly to JMA, but the CMA will be next.

[Xebsball]

Kenshin did the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu style of sword style

[Laughing Cow]

Don't get me wrong there are some good MA Movies and programs out there.

But unfortunately over-shadowed by the bad stuff.

Unless you consider "Dragonball Z & GT" to be the best of the best.
:p :p

Media even includes Arcade & playstation games, I hear quiet a few complaints about styles being misrepresented there.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Look at some of the damage that Hollywood did. I.e. the straight sword, etc.
Look at how BL is misrepresented often in the media.


What's BL?

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent


What's BL?

Bruce Lee.

Sorry, got into habits of shortening names.

Chen Xiao Wang = CXW
etc.

[Xebsball]

His sword was called Sakabatou (spell?). It was a katana with the edge being on the inside instead of the outside like on a normal katana. This way he didnt kill his opoenets when he fought.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow


Bruce Lee.

Sorry, got into habits of shortening names.

Chen Xiao Wang = CXW
etc.

With you. Thanks.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Xebsball
His sword was called Sakabatou (spell?). It was a katana with the edge being on the inside instead of the outside like on a normal katana. This way he didnt kill his opoenets when he fought.

So...er... why have an edge on it at all?

[FatherDog]

I think it's very important for children-oriented shows to try to instill good values of tolerance and undestanding.

That said, I think that having anti-hero, nasty programming in ADULT oriented programming is fine. I enjoyed reading Hannibal, that doesn't mean I'm likely to eat any of you. Adults can separate fiction from reality.

Also, as regards portrayal of martial arts:

Rule 1 of movies: THEY GET EVERYTHING WRONG!

Try watching Hackers with a computer science major, or Top Gun with someone who's been in the Air Force, or Braveheart with a history major, and you'll see exactly what I mean.

[Xebsball]

cos for the japanese the sword needs to be sharp so that it has a "soul" or something like that. I read this long time ago, somewhere, cant remember.

[yenhoi]

"It has no bearing on people actually studying ...."

;)

I just dont get your concern. Samurai jack has nothing to do with what goes on in my kwoon. Neither does Bruce Li as Bruce Lee in "Bruce Lee The Super Hero." Or "Bruce Lee the Unstoppable."

What the hell does that have to do with hitting the bag around or a good sparring session? Or even the first WCK form? Or anything at all concerning MA training?

:confused:

[Serpent]

Fatherdog, very good point!

Xebby, I see!

[Laughing Cow]

Yenhoi.

Don't worry about it.

For me it has to do with respecting my art and how my Art is percevied in the world.

I am with Fatherdog, some of gthe things I see done in movies make me cringe.

Worst part is still writing a "hack" for an unknown alien computer and building a hardware interface with the right pulse, energy levels, etc.
And it works 100% flawless the first time.
Microsoft needs to hire those guys.

Guess where in "ID4".

[Laughing Cow]

Serpent.

A japanese blade similar to a Kukhri has to taste blood after it has been drawn.
Except for practice and cleaning.

One reason why often in samurai Dramas they only draw the Blade halfway or just release it from the catch, or the Blade is tied into the sash using a white ribbon.

If you are given a sword to admire the Blade always leave the tip in the sash when looking at the Blade.
If you draw it you are supposed to cut the tip of your thumb and donate 1 drop of blood onto the blade.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by FatherDog

Rule 1 of movies: THEY GET EVERYTHING WRONG!

Try watching Hackers with a computer science major...

ROFL indeed. I've had friends who had that impression. I had to convince them otherwise.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Don't get me wrong there are some good MA Movies and programs out there.

But unfortunately over-shadowed by the bad stuff.

Unless you consider "Dragonball Z & GT" to be the best of the best.
:p :p

Media even includes Arcade & playstation games, I hear quiet a few complaints about styles being misrepresented there.

you gotta draw a line somewhere though. I really don't care how realistically a style is presented in a game....I'm not trying to learn techniques from it. I just care that I like the game. However, I do have to give props to the virtua fighter series for being the closest to the real stuff out there, as far as games go.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by SevenStar


you gotta draw a line somewhere though. I really don't care how realistically a style is presented in a game....I'm not trying to learn techniques from it. I just care that I like the game. However, I do have to give props to the virtua fighter series for being the closest to the real stuff out there, as far as games go.

I only do the live action stuff, so personally I wouldn't know about those games.

[yenhoi]

But the new mortal combat is so god ****ed badass.

[Laughing Cow]

Yenhoi.

So it may be, but I got a rule:

"NO Game Console in my house."

;)

[yenhoi]

You have a computer and chat here, whats the diff?

;)


xbox is one of the greatest and worst inventions all wrapped up in a neat little black box.


:eek:

[PHILBERT]

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/watch/web_shows/hkp/index.html

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by yenhoi
You have a computer and chat here, whats the diff?


No games there either. Even got rid of Freecel, Solitarie, etc.

I spend my time doing my other Hobbies, this is just a distraction on the side.

All the other Boards messages come in via E-Mail.
Those are specific to the style I study or my Hobbies.
:D :D

[yenhoi]

Yeah. I probably wont let my kids play with game machines. But Ill keep mine, show it to them when they are old enough.

tee hee.:eek:

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow


The never met it to my end of the globe.

I used to watch karate kat every sunday, with the rest of "the comic strip"

http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1451.php

hk phooey was rerun on the USA network.

http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1090.php

and we can't forget **** tracy's friend joe jistu.



And what has that story-line got to do with MA or Samurai??
At most it is a c-rated story-line souped up with some MA imagery to sell it.

Many samurai movies are about a wandering warrior on a mission...

However, what it's got to do with MA, samurai, etc. is his code of honor. also, his iron will. not strong references, but once again, who cares? it's just entertainment.




We know it isn't real, how about little Johnny down the road.

Germany banned throwing stars after Kids watched a show took some metal stars to school and played Ninja injuring a few kids.

Because of things like this we get more and more legal restrictions heaped on the MA scene.

It is a slippery slope, but like Ryu I am trying to help the changes along.

you can say the same about guns, and pretty much everything else that's in a cartoon or game that makes them fun. It's the parent's job to teach kids the difference. When I was in VA, a cop shot a kid - he was like 11 - because the kid had an 'entertech' toy water gun - they looked real, and the cop thought it was. he didn't try to check the kid or anything. He asked the kid to drop it, then he shot him. That is part of the reason why toy guns come in bright colors now, instead of black. Perhaps the cop was watching too much tv also?

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Serpent.

A japanese blade similar to a Kukhri has to taste blood after it has been drawn.
Except for practice and cleaning.

One reason why often in samurai Dramas they only draw the Blade halfway or just release it from the catch, or the Blade is tied into the sash using a white ribbon.

If you are given a sword to admire the Blade always leave the tip in the sash when looking at the Blade.
If you draw it you are supposed to cut the tip of your thumb and donate 1 drop of blood onto the blade.

I thought that was just myth!

Wow.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by yenhoi
Yeah. I probably wont let my kids play with game machines. But Ill keep mine, show it to them when they are old enough.

tee hee.:eek:

thank goodness I didn't live with you or lc

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent


I thought that was just myth!

Wow.

More like a discontinued practice this days.

But than there are very few good swords left.

[yenhoi]

well hopefully they are smart enough to sneak past me and play with it anyways,

always thinking 7*!

:D

[Serpent]

Originally posted by PHILBERT
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/watch/web_shows/hkp/index.html

That's a modern flash homage, nothing like the original cartoon, but very good all the same.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow


I only do the live action stuff, so personally I wouldn't know about those games.

http://www.sega.com/games/post_gamegame.jhtml?PRODID=827

click on the big image on the left. It will start a flash sitelet where you can click on the fighters for a close up pic and description of them and their style. I think that site has movies you can download also. If not, there are others that do.

[PHILBERT]

Serpent, yeah I know I found it through that link provided at the begining of the thread. They mentioned that Cartoon Network had done the flash so I went to the site and searched. If animation were THAT good in the 70s, who knows what we'd be looking at today.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by PHILBERT
Serpent, yeah I know I found it through that link provided at the begining of the thread. They mentioned that Cartoon Network had done the flash so I went to the site and searched. If animation were THAT good in the 70s, who knows what we'd be looking at today.

True, true.

[Mr Punch]

The popular fiction media is one small part of the general bs image that ma has. I don't think it's the worst part. People's general ignorance of any culture (including their own) and history is far more disturbing.

Also the number of people who feel that they have become invincible after a few classes, or who just wanna make themselves god's gift to hard is way more worrying.

The number of times I've had to explain the difference between karate/aikido/jujutsu or aikido/kendo... or whatever to Japanese people you would not believe. I can understand if people just don't care but when they are only interested in propagating some fancy myth they've read in a manga somewhere it ****es me off.

Even ki/chi/whatever. Here this concept is no great shakes. It's used in dozens of everyday expressions and has few mystical overtones. But when we talk about chikung or something, I still get people saying 'Ah so can you use your ki?' and they then go on to explain that they mean to put out lights from the other side of the room, or knock people over... I just wanna slap em!!

That's when I really have to take a deep breath... of course, unfortunately this usually knocks them out thus propogating the myth of breath power even further...:D

And among the fight fraternity here... when I was watching my friend compete in shoot-boxing last year the Thai style fighters, the bjj fighters, the Japanese style fighters all got mad props, but the one Chinese fighter just got a load of Bruce Lee noises shouted at him. Nobody's gonna blame BL for that kind of image, or anything but a positive image to the general population... but people just stick to whatever they think they know. Of course, when the guy kicked ass and made it into the final (looking I must say, very sharp, and very different to most of the fighters), everybody was behind him even to the extent of booing the bum decisions that lost him the final bout. But next time they watch a Chinese fighter you can bet your ass they'll be back to animal noises.


So in general, a few bits of wirework and cg aren't so bad I think... when people start training they soon realise it's gonna have to take a lot more blood, sweat and tears than they thought. People will always take what they put into the MA, but they will take what they want from the movies.


Originally posted by AndyM
'Kung Fu man ate my dog'

Sorry about that mate, I'll drop by and vomit him over your carpet later if you like...


Laughing Cow
More like a discontinued practice this days.


Where did you hear about this? Most of the historians and budoka I've spoken to about this have told me it was only ever a few freaks! Just wondering.

sorry it got so long... and didn't mean to bring it back on subject... honest...:rolleyes: :D

[Former castleva]

Concerned with media on MA? Kind of.

Ironic as it may be,the most irritating picture directly handed out in my opinion is that of TMNT.
Especially the "ninja" part.Those responsible for a nice,if misleading show may not have had much idea about budo history.
What one considers ninja (as already stated,is a bit clouded) can vary but but these ever-morally aware heroes of us do not necessarily reflect assasins.

[apoweyn]

laughing cow,


Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Do you think that MA is correctly represented in the media (TV, Movies, Cartoons).

Personally I am saddened at the current over-use of MA in the media.

Looks like you cannot watch any movie or TV-series anymore that doesn't feature some MA moves in it.
ergo, Buffy the Vampire Layer, Dark Angel, Matrix, Charlie's Angels, etc.

Cartoons are even worse.

Look at "Samurai Jack" (pet-hate) what's the story to it, what does it say about the Samurai and their way of life and conduct.

Personally, I think we as serious MA should be very concerned about this trend and somehow should make an effort to get MA presented more authentic and accurate.

As the current trend gives People the wrong idea of MA and only promotes more shisters to milk the MA cow for their own end.

I know the old 70's HK Movies were more the equivalent of our Fantasy (knights & dragons)movies than trying to portray MA accurate.

I rather let my son watch "Push Hands" than the latest Jet Li flick.

Flame on.

i think if you're relying on the media to accurately portray anything, you really need to reevaluate things. this is essentially the same as that italian american group getting bent out of shape about 'the sopranos.' i'm not saying you're wrong to be concerned about this. but i think you're coming at it from the wrong direction.

personally, i love buffy, the matrix, samurai jack, etc. why? because it's entertaining. and that's precisely what inspired me to get into martial arts in the first place. i like having a daily reminder of what sparked that fire.

i think a better solution than putting the thumb screws on the entertainment industry is doing a little more public education. martial artists, to my mind, have a really weird perspective on their arts. i hear people all the time on these forums say, "oh i don't tell anyone i do martial arts; if i do, they keep asking me stupid questions about whether i could take steven seagal in a fight... "

that's not a reason to stop telling people. it's the reason to start. i don't keep it a secret. and not because i think it impresses people. but because it's an opportunity to dispel myths and give a realistic counterbalance to the media. eliminating influences we don't like is counterproductive. supplying influences we do like is better, to my mind.

there's a woman i work with who's talked to me about this before. she had this vision that all martial artists were like mr. miyagi. self disciplined, humble, and self restrained. it's a nice image. but it isn't reality. in reality, we're as trite, self serving, and generally small as any other subsection of the population. i mean, look at this forum, for crying out loud.

unrealistic portrayals of virtually everything (cops, soldiers, lawyers, knights... ) have been the norm for entertainment since the dawn of time. eliminating them won't happen. as for realistic portrayals of the martial arts, that needs to start with us. we can't expect the popular media to do it for us.


stuart b.

p.s. that said, 'push hands' is a really good movie.

[Serpent]

Also, bear in mind that a lot of people started MA due to movies or tv. When they found out the truth of it they either stayed or left, but it's what made a lot of people look in the first place.